Today we’d like to introduce you to Gabby Loftin.
Hi Gabby, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
When I was two, I started making nail polish and lip gloss. I used to watch Sara’s beauty channel on YouTube, so I did what she did. At three, I learned how to sew from my aunt. And by 4 years old, I did my first collection for a runway show.
At 5, I made history by becoming the youngest designer to be featured in any fashion week. I was featured as an emerging designer by DC Fashion Week. By 6, I had been featured in DC Fashion Week, NYFW, Harlem Fashion Week, LA Fashion Week, Paris Fashion Week, London, and Dubai. I was slated to be featured during Milan Fashion Week and Hawaii Fashion Week but Covid hit so it was cancelled.
During Covid, I used my sewing to help make masks for essential workers in DC and MD. Also worked with my aunt to make 500 masks for cancer patients at Howard University Hospital and a hospital in Harlem NY. During Covid, I fell in love even more with using my creativity to help my community.
Today, I use my business, Gabby’s World Designs, to show how fashion can inspire people to be creative and help give back to others. I am working on starting my nonprofit, Gather With Gabby, to inspire kids to believe in themselves and feel free to say “Creatively Me.”
On top of being a fashion designer, I’m a straight-A student, AAU basketball player, Volleyball player for my school, actress, and author of 9 published books.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It has not always been a smooth road for me only because I sew all the clothes you see on the runway.
Sometimes my vision is more ambitious than my skill but I love that it pushes me to learn more. Sewing is the easy part but making the pattern is where I love to grow.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am DC’s youngest fashion designer and author. I am a fashion designer, creator of animated shorts, digital artist, artist, rug maker, author, athlete, actress, and 4.0 scholar. At the age of two, I began making my own lip gloss and fingernail polish.
At three years old, I started sewing at my mother’s summer camp to teach kids Science, Technology, Reading, Art, and Math (STREAM) through Sewing. I fell in love with it; since then, I have been featured around the country and internationally.
I was first featured in DC Fashion Week at 5 years old, making me the youngest designer to ever be featured in any major fashion week. By 6 years old, I had been featured in NYFW, LAFW, Atlantic City Fashion Week, and invited to be featured in Dubai, London, Hawaii, and Milan fashion weeks. I have also been featured on Fox 5 DC, Good Morning Washington DC, H st festival, and numerous publications and fashion weeks.
I use my sewing and creativity to give back to her community and help the homeless. Through my fashion and published 9-book-series book, “Abby YoYo”, I am inspiring other kids to be creative. I want everyone who reads my books, participates in Gather With Gabby events, or shops Gabby’s World Designs to know it’s okay for them to say, I am “Creatively Me.”
Welcome to Gabby’s World Designs, a place for creatives to say, “Creatively Me.” Shopping Gabby’s World Designs creates room for Gather With Gabby to give back to the community through fashion, art, and books.
We’d love to hear about how you think about risk-taking.
My view on risk-taking is that if it is something you feel passionate about and have a vision for then it’s not a risk.
I don’t feel like I have taken any major risk because every choice I make is based on the vision I have for my business. If it doesn’t go as planned then I just learn from it and approach my vision differently.
Pricing:
- Custom outfits start at $80
- Public speaking: $500
- Host an event for $700
- Rent outfits: $50
Contact Info:
- Website: Gabbysworlddesigns.com
- Instagram: @gabbysworlddesign
- Youtube: http://youtube.com/@gabbyworld1013
- Other: https://linktr.ee/gabbysworlddesigns
Image Credits
Models: Eris Arbry, Precious Freeman, and Neviah Photographer: Myles Minishoota
